Amount assessed in damages.

No definition available.

Name:	holx_AmountAssessedInDamages
Namespace Prefix:	holx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Litigation Settlement, Amount Awarded to Other Party On Individual Basis

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	holx_LitigationSettlementAmountAwardedtoOtherPartyOnIndividualBasis
Namespace Prefix:	holx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount awarded to other party in judgment or settlement of litigation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmountAwardedToOtherParty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total number of new claims filed pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118942415&loc=d3e14435-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyNewClaimsFiledNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=holx_MinervaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=holx_CynosureMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Commitments and Contingencies (Detail)			1 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies (Detail)	Oct. 07, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 04, 2016 petition	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 27, 2018 USD ($)
Minerva
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Assessed damages				$ 4,800,000
Petitions filed \| petition		2
Cynosure
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Plaintiff statutory damages on individual basis	$ 25
Payment of settlement compensation			$ 8,500,000